


Cool and Shiny

by cherrytruck



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Ruby & Sapphire & Emerald | Pokemon Ruby Sapphire Emerald Versions
Genre: Crack, Implied/Referenced Cheating, M/M, Other, Steven being weird about steel Pokemon, and basically a ton of nonense, implied Human/Pokemon relationship, originshipping, what's the term for steven and metagross uhh METALSHIPPING?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-17
Updated: 2014-11-17
Packaged: 2018-02-25 18:54:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,342
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2632562
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cherrytruck/pseuds/cherrytruck
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steven behaves odd to the point where Wallace suspects an affair - with a very concerning partner choice.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cool and Shiny

**Author's Note:**

  * For [oudeteron](https://archiveofourown.org/users/oudeteron/gifts).



> For oudeteron's birthday. WOOO!

“Wallace, I’m finally home!”

Steven said he’d be back by 6 o’clock from Meteor Falls, but now he was two hours late, and had only come back after Wallace threw dozens of missed calls onto him. Naturally, Wallace wasn’t impressed by Steven’s lateness.

“What on earth were you doing?! Are you all right? Did something happen?”

“N-no, I just kind of lost track of time...and ran out of repels. Sorry…” Steven tiredly dropped his bags and kicked his boots off, and then slumped onto Wallace's courch as if the place were his own - well, technically the two of them treated each others’ places like their own, but right now Wallace couldn’t help but feel that Steven was being a bit of an obnoxious guest, first being late, and now giving this sorry excuse and crashing himself onto Wallace’s furniture.

“I was making dinner for you, Steven, but now it’s gone all cold. Feel free to heat it up yourself. I’m not cooking anything else for you tonight.” Wallace sighed, sitting beside Steven, still wanting to spend time with him even if he was a little mad.

“Thanks...not really hungry now though,” Steven replied. Wallace felt disappointment coming with that - to think that he didn’t even have the courtesy to eat the food that Wallace spent his time on to welcome Steven back after a long cave trip.

“Well that’s two hours of my life I’ll never get back.” Wallace let himself fall on his side on the remaining space of the couch, not hiding that he was completely done with Steven for today.

“Wallace...I’m so sorry.” Steven leaned over to kiss Wallace on the cheek, brushing away his fringe with his fingers - probably still dirty. “I’m really glad you went through this trouble for me and I feel bad that I can’t show my gratefulness. I really want to make it up to you. How about I take you out for dinner tomorrow? Somewhere really nice and expensive...I’ll even let you use my credit card on a shopping spree afterwards if you like. I promise you’ll have my full attention on that day.”

“Hmph. You’re lucky that money can solve all your problems instantly,” Wallace laughed.

~

While surfing along the routes for training up his Pokemon, Wallace bumped across a sight that looked like Steven talking to a kid with a white hat. Wallace tried to wave, but Steven didn’t notice. He was probably too busy guiding new trainers on how to go about with their adventures.

At first Wallace let himself float around on Wailord waiting for Steven, not really hearing what he was talking about. If he knew Steven well enough, he was probably just ranting to the poor kid about his rock collection rather than the importance of friendship and love of Pokemon and all that.

“Steel Pokemon…” Steven said, suddenly raising his voice more than usual. “The way they shine...their bodies are so hard and cool to the touch...have you ever touched a steel Pokemon before?”

 _What the heck_ , Wallace thought to himself. What kind of conversation was he having with this kid?

“STEVEN!” Wallace shouted and landed ashore to approach Steven before he kept this poor kid occupied by his odd hobbies any longer. “Teaching trainers about the importance of friendship and love of Pokemon and all that, are you?”

“Oh. Please excuse me, Brendan…” Steven nodded towards the kid, who looked sheepishly at the two men and then rode off on his bicycle. “Wallace! I was just saying how amazing steel Pokemon were. You know I love steel Pokemon, right? I’m sure you don’t agree since you’re more of a water person, but…”

“I see. Um…” That information was nothing new - it was no secret that Steven, wearing what probably weighed tons of steel material all over his body, had a huge thing for steel types. But did he have to sound so weird about it? If the kid didn’t know better - and maybe he didn’t - he may have thought that Steven was coming onto him.

“Well Wallace, how have you been? I think I’ll go digging up some caves later on in the day. You going to go back to the gym later?”

“Oh right. Bye!” Wallace instantly took out his bike and rode off, only realizing later that what Steven said wasn’t exactly a cue to leave. Whoops. But Wallace decided perhaps leaving instantly was the less awkward option after what he had just heard and thought about his steel Pokemon obsession, and so he continued to pedal on.

~

Steven had told Wallace that he’d have to go away for the weekend on an extended business trip - when Wallace asked what it was about, Steven didn’t tell him anything more. “It’s boring stuff, you wouldn’t be interested. Or understand. Anyway, don’t worry. I’ll keep in touch and keep thinking of you.” Steven kissed Wallace briefly before leaving with a large suitcase in his hands. “Well, see you in a few days!”

Wallace was of course sad that he’d have to spend a weekend without Steven, although he felt that Steven was being a bit unusually perky over his business trip - a little odd considering how he claimed it was going to be boring. Usually when he had to be separated from Wallace, even if just for a day, they were both quite sad about it.

“Well, I hope you enjoy yourself...whatever it is,” Wallace said with a hint of skepticism. “You better get me something good for when you come back.”

“I will!” Steven left in haste, so much to the point where Wallace noticed that Steven left his red scarf on Wallace’s table after a few minutes. Sighing, he picked it up and quickly ran out of the door, hoping that he’d be able to catch up with Steven, and that he hadn’t flew off already.

Luckily it seemed Steven was a bit on the slow side, as he hadn’t progressed out very far. Wallace found him, still with his suitcase - riding on top of Metagross, not exactly looking like he was in any rush to go on this “business trip”. Wallace coughed to grab Steven’s attention. “Ahem.”

“Oh! Wallace! I um…”

“You left your scarf.”

“Right. Thanks! Metagross is just helping me carry my things...it’s really heavy! You want to try lifting it up for yourself?”

“No thanks, I’m good. Um…” Wallace eyed Metagross before looking back at Steven blankly. “Ok, then I guess...bye!”

Steven instantly took off with Metagross. Wallace definitely felt there was something going on here.

~

Later that day, Wallace called Winona to have coffee with her and talk about things - if there was anyone he trusted to get advice from, it was her.

“So um...Winona, I’m just asking this hypothetically...but, how do you know if someone is cheating on you?”

“Hypothetically? Wallace, is something going on?” Winona’s eyes looked too sharp to be deceived by Wallace trying to depersonalise the whole thing. “Are you worried someone is cheating on you?”

“N-no! It’s for um...a friend. Yeah.” Wallace fiddled with the wooden stick in his coffee that he used earlier to stir some sugar into it - too much sugar, come to think of it. “So do you know what classic signs of cheating are?”

“Hmm.” Winona took a sip before she continued. “It varies but there’s a general feeling of them being secretive, not being involved with you, secret phonecalls they don’t tell you about…”

“The last one doesn’t apply,” Wallace said, realizing later that sounded weird. Oh crap.

“Wallace...do you think Steven is cheating on you?!”

“Um!!” Great, there was no hiding it now. “Winona, I’m convinced he is cheating on me! He keeps going away on these cave and business trips he tells me nothing of, he’s been so unusually tired and unengaged with me…”

“Whoa, whoa! It’s ok, Wallace. Slow down.” Winona reached out for Wallace’s hand and patted it with her own. “I thought that’s what Steven usually does though? Or has something changed?”

True, Steven was quite a busy man, but he never usually came back late from his cave trips and come to think of it, he had started going away on these trips at an unusually odd frequency. “It’s just, he’s going on more trips than usual and he always comes home late, and he never tells me what he’s been up to. He’s too tired to do anything with me anymore. I don’t know what to do, Winona!”

“Why not approach him about it? Tell him you feel neglected, look him straight in the eye and ask if he still loves you.”

That is what Wallace would have done, if it weren’t for the unusual situation he was dealing with.

“I can’t do that, Winona.”

“How comes, Wallace?”

“Because…” Wallace knew it was going to sound ridiculous, but he sighed loudly and went ahead. “I think...the person he’s cheating with...isn’t even a person. I-I think he’s having an affair with his...Metagross.”

“WHAAAAAAAAAAAAT?” Winona said that so loud that Wallace thought the entire coffee house must have heard them. “Wallace, is that true?! What makes you say that?”

“W-well, I saw him talking to his kid the other day talking about weird things like...touching steel Pokemon. And um...well, he said he was going on a business trip but then I saw him with Metagross, and I can’t help but wonder…!”

“Wallace.” Winona shook her head. “I’ll stand by you no matter what, but I highly doubt Steven is that kind of guy. I know he is really into steel Pokemon, but it’s a different kind of love, like how I’m passionate about flying Pokemon and how you’re into water Pokemon! I think...he just expresses it in a very odd way.” Winona could probably tell that Wallace didn’t look convinced. “Um...I mean, look. I think you should approach him and talk to him to clear things up. If he really does act questionably towards Pokemon then we should take this seriously, but I think it’s premature to say he’s doing things with Metagross just because he is fond of steel types. I’ll keep an eye out for him, ok?”

“But Winona! Don’t you think he’s still acting suspicious and all?!”

“He kind of is. That’s why I say, you should talk to him! It’ll solve more than you think. Trust me.”

Wallace sighed - perhaps Winona was right. Just because he was feeling a bit neglected due to Steven being busy, it didn’t really mean he was really doing questionable things with Metagross. After all, Wallace also loved his Milotic very much - but not in that way - and the two of them were pretty much inseparable, especially during contests where he felt like he and Milotic were merged into one - but not in that way.

~

After a lonely weekend, Steven was due to come back, and Wallace eagerly awaited his return to see if he kept the promise of bringing back something good for him. He said he would head to Rustboro City at first to meet his father, so Wallace figured he would surprise him by waiting for him there.

Wallace sat down on one of the benches of the metallic city, waiting to see where Steven would enter from. However, it seemed Steven was already in the Devon Corporation building, coming out with what appeared to be another kid, this time a young lady with a bow on her head, and he was looking incredibly psyched up. Wallace looked on, wondering what it was all about.

“You love steel Pokemon too?! Their texture is so arousing to the senses! Feel how hard and tough they are, yet so cool and smooth to the touch! They are so loyal, intelligent and understanding towards your feelings, and although they don’t look it, you can really connect with them in an intimate manner...the way their bodies rebuff when you hug, and they are incredibly addictive to snuggle! I love my Metagross so much! There is no Pokemon like it! That’s why I want you to take this Beldum and take good care of it. Do let me know how you get on with it - I’m sure Beldum will want to see its father every now and then.” Steven laughed and handed the Pokeball to the young girl, who looked a little sheepish, just like that other boy did.

Who could blame her? Wallace was also incredibly shocked by what he heard. Sure, perhaps the first time Steven was showing the extent of his social awkwardness towards people when it came to talking about Pokemon, but this sounded, well, incredibly dodgy.

“Oh Rayquaza. Save me.” Wallace felt a little sick, and ran off before Steven could notice he was there - suddenly he didn’t quite feel like welcoming Steven back.

~

Wallace never addressed his concerns for Steven since he returned, instead trying to play it cool. Steven didn’t notice anything odd from Wallace, perhaps for the better. His mind was probably too occupied elsewhere. It was business as usual.

Steven did invite Wallace to come over to his house however, so at least he hadn’t completely forgotten about Wallace. He agreed to come over, still trying to convince himself that he was just misinterpreting this whole thing and that this was a huge misunderstanding. Asking Steven if he really was banging Pokemon might traumatize them forever.

“Thanks for coming! I re-arranged my home and I wanted you to check it out.” Steven opened the door and held it open for Wallace. “After you.” So he retained his gentlemanly manners for him after all.

As Wallace walked in, he noticed first thing was that the were literally tables and displays of stones everywhere in his place - more than usual. Steven had moved his bed right next to an array of displays of stones and other minerals.

And speaking of his bed, he noticed right there in plain sight was a steel dildo. It wasn’t as if Wallace was a prude against the use of sex toys - they both used them together after all, but he didn’t realize that steel could be used for such activities. He sure never had Steven use steel on him before.

“Heh…” Steven laughed nervously and picked up the steel device. “Well, we can go ahead and have some fun with this, if you like…”

“Um...I don’t think I really want to.” Of all things, Wallace really did not need more steel in his life.

“Aww, that’s all right. We don’t have to.” Steven put his hand on the back of Wallace’s neck, leaning in for a kiss, and pulling their bodies next to each other. “We can have fun however you like…”

“Steven...I don’t feel like it. Sorry.” Wallace felt bad about it but he seriously was not in the mood for sex at this moment. Steven looked hurt, but didn’t seem to be coming onto him any further.

“I understand, but is everything all right, Wallace? Have I done something to bother you, or…?”

“No, just...tired.” Yeah, because that was a convincing excuse. “I’m fine.” _Great_ , even more convincing.

“Wallace? You look like something is bothering you. We can talk about it, if you want?”

Steven was right, and perhaps Wallace should have been grateful that Steven understood he wasn’t fine, but he really did not need the intrusion from him now. “It’s just...well, I lost a few gym matches today. There. I’m mad because of that. I know I shouldn’t be. Sorry, Steven.” It was a complete lie, but Wallace’s quick thinking made Steven convinced that was the case, so he nodded and hugged him.

“I’m sorry to hear that let you down. How about I make you some dinner? We can do something else of course. There’s no pressure on you.”

Just then, the clock struck at the hour and Wallace heard what sounded like Metagross - he looked around, only to see that Steven had also fitted in a clock with a picture of a Metagross on it. So that’s where the sound was coming from...

 _No pressure indeed_ , Wallace thought. He wasn’t the one doing thing with Metagross, after all.

~

While sex was still off the table, Wallace did agree to sleep in Steven’s bed to cuddle for the night. It was comforting for a while, although it felt weird sleeping so close near Steven’s stones right there on display. Naturally, Steven slept on the side closest to his stones.

Wallace woke up by himself quite early in the morning, but he didn’t feel like getting up instantly. He let himself lay in bed, with Steven still next to him, though they were no longer cuddling and Steven was facing away from Wallace, and of course, faced towards his stones.

Steven was moving a little, making some sounds - Wallace looked over, and couldn’t quite see what was going on, but the movement under the sheets looked like Steven was probably masturbating.

Wallace looked under the blankets after lifting them up slightly, and surely enough, Steven was jerking himself off. This was hardly a first, and one couldn’t blame him when Wallace refused to have sex with him last night, but Wallace was absolutely convinced Steven must have been having some kind of odd fantasy relating to stones or minerals or Metagross or whatever other secret fetishes he was keeping away from Wallace.

“Mmm...yes….mhmm…” Steven mumbled, and Wallace tried to listen on to see if Steven would yell out anything that confirmed his bizarre fantasies. Not that Wallace really had anything against Steven having fantasies he kept to himself, but with everything going on, it was hard not to think that it was the only thing Steven cared about nowadays. “Ah...shiny…”

“Steven!” Wallace couldn’t take it any longer - he put his hand on Steven’s shoulder and woke him up.

“Huh! Oh...um…” Steven realized where his hand was at, and blushed. “G-good morning...Wallace.”

“Yeah. Hi.” Wallace crossed his arms, not being able to help but look at Steven’s glimmering stones. “I’ve been up for a while now. Make me breakfast, will you? I’m hungry.”

“Oh...y-yes, of course…” Steven got up tiredly, pulling his pants up and going to the bathroom to wash up. For a moment, Wallace felt bad for interrupting Steven’s fun time, but he was sure that later on the day he’d say he had some emergency business trip to go to and get on with his questionable steel lover.

~

Wallace got a phonecall in the middle of the day from Steven, who was at work as usual. It was however strange for Steven to call him in the middle of work, Wallace thought. He picked up immediately. “Hey Steven, is everything all right?”

“Wallace, I need to ask you something quickly. I want to talk to you about something important later on. I want to meet at Meteor Falls tonight when I finish work. Is this all right?”

 _Oh my goodness_ , Wallace thought. “Yes...ok. See you there, Steven.”

Wallace hung up, and gasped. “No!! He’s going to break up with me!” He threw himself onto the couch and started crying himself out. While finding one way to dehydrate himself, he mentally began to think of what kind of speeches to give to Steven for when he finally broke the word that he was going to cut ties with him.

 _You’re a loser._ No, that didn’t sound elegant enough. _You’re ugly._ No, that was a complete lie. _You’re a nobody who only gets around because you use up your dad’s money._ No, Wallace was hardly one to talk when he was the one who kept spending Steven’s finances on himself. _You’re really creepy for choosing to screw Pokemon over a hot guy like me and I am going to tell all of Hoenn what a creep you are. You ought to go to prison for the things that I’m not sure if you even do with Metagross and - oh, forget it._

Maybe, and probably, it wasn’t going to be a break up - maybe it would be something else. But all the signs seemed to be pointing towards his initial assumption. Steven had been acting oddly secretive and their relationship wasn’t as intimate as before. The fact that he wanted to meet at such a significant place for a “talk” meant it had to be something serious.

~

Later on that day, it was time. Wallace waited at Meteor Falls, specifically wearing waterproof makeup just in case he’d end up crying in front of Steven. This time Steven arrived promptly on time, and he looked pleased to see Wallace.

“Hey! Come inside, I want to show you something.”

“Show me what?” Wallace wondered, but Steven didn’t answer, instead taking his hand and walking towards the cavern, stopping where the waterfall was.

“Thanks for coming, Wallace. I had something very important to tell you…” Steven exhaled, wiping his forehead with his hand. He appeared quite visibly nervous. “Wallace...you know how much I love you. From the day we’ve met, I thought you were very special. You’re very attractive, kind, funny...and you’ve given me many good memories. I’ve changed the way I see the world because of you.”

Wallace nodded, trying to suppress his hands from shaking. _Come on, get on with it already._

“But, I realize I sometimes appear my mind is elsewhere...you know, like stones, steel and all that...I shouldn’t be sorry for my passions, but I am. You deserve more attention from somebody who can truly devote themselves to you. You deserve so much, because you are a wonderful person, and you only deserve the best.”

Steven sure prepared for quite the elegant speech to split up - more than what Wallace expected. Perhaps it was his time to talk.

Before he could start however, Steven did something - he took Wallace’s hand, and got down on one knee. He then took out a box from his pocket and opened it. A bright, sparkling ring that made the entire cave shine brightly was inside.

“Wallace...will you marry me?”

“WHAT?!” Wallace jumped in shock. He sure wasn’t expecting this - he knew he probably should have felt relieved and over the moon, but right now he was just incredibly confused. “Steven...I’m sorry, but…what’s happening?!”

“I-I’m proposing to you,” Steven blinked, looking equally as confused. “Um...is something wrong?”

“Oh, Steven…” Wallace facepalmed, disappointed at himself for being so quiet all this time. “I...I thought you were going to break up with me! When you said you wanted to meet up...I mean, for the past few weeks, you keep going away on these trips, you were being so secretive…”

“Oh my goodness. Wallace, why did you think I wanted to break up with you?”

“Because, Steven! When you go away so unusually frequently without telling me anything, that’s what I think, ok?”

“Wallace...I-I’m sorry that’s what you thought! I...I was telling you the truth.” Steven looked and sounded honest, and even a little saddened. “I really did have to go on business trips more often to save up on money and arrange my career direction so that I’d be able to make more time for you. I only spent so long in caves because I wanted to find the perfect stones and minerals to make this ring for you. I wasn’t going to rest until I found the perfect materials for you. Of course, I only kept it a secret because I wanted to surprise you.”

That sure explained quite a lot of it. Winona was right - Wallace was jumping to conclusions. Except…

“Steven, that’s so sweet of you, but...um...I have a confession to make.”

“Oh? What’s that?”

Wallace couldn’t believe he was going to admit this, but he felt he should be honest with Steven, still on his knee like this. “I got really suspicious when I heard you talking to those kids about...um, steel Pokemon in a really weird way. You were talking about touching them and how you got aroused by them! So I thought...um. You know.”

“You think I get off to steel Pokemon like that?! Wallace, no!” Steven’s shocked voice echoed throughout the cave, probably scaring off all the Zubats who were listening to any of this. “I...know I get a bit weird talking about it, but hey, it’s not like you never talk about Milotic in that way? Well, I suppose you don’t ask people if they’ve touched fish but...but…Metagross is so wonderful…”

 _Oh great_ , he got Steven all worked up about Metagross again.

“...sorry. I’m missing the point.” Steven closed the box and stood up, holding Wallace’s hands in his. “No, you’re right. I’ve been really horrible about the way I’ve prepared for this moment. I tried to make this a surprise, but instead I neglected you and made you feel like I was abandoning you. I was more vocal about my love of Pokemon than for you, so naturally you’d think that...and I don’t blame you. I understand why you want to say no to marriage. I’m not offended and I won’t treat you any less for it. If anything, it means I have to work harder to get your acceptance…”

“Steven, are you kidding me?!” Wallace put his hand into Steven’s pocket and took out the box, then took the ring and placed it on his finger. “How can I say no to a pretty ring like this?! And, if we get married, I’ll have access to all your money and business!”

“...s-so, you’re saying…”

“Yes! Steven, let’s get married and sign those papers right now!” Feeling hugely relieved, Wallace kissed Steven in the glowing cave where the light of his ring was reflected under the fountain. He took Steven’s hand and dragged him out of the cave, keen to tie the knot as he heard nothing but the chimes of money in his head.


End file.
